Strategy question

Why does Starbucks sometimes have coffee shops on both sides of the road?

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Business and market reasoning about retail location strategy and cannibalization trade-offs.

Reframe the question: Starbucks isn't simply duplicating stores, it's segmenting demand by direction of travel and convenience.
Explain the commuter logic: placing stores on both sides of a busy road avoids forcing drivers to cross traffic, capturing both morning and evening commute flows.
Consider real estate economics: high foot traffic corridors can support more than one location without meaningfully cannibalizing sales if total demand is large enough.
Note brand strategy: dense store presence increases visibility and convenience, reinforcing habitual purchase behavior over competitors.
Acknowledge the trade-off: some cannibalization is likely accepted as a cost of maximizing total market capture and defending against competitors entering the same corridor.

Names the commuter/traffic-direction logic specifically, which is the real, well-documented reason behind this pattern.
Explains that Starbucks accepts some self-cannibalization deliberately to defend market share against competitors and convenience stores.
Uses a concrete example, e.g. a rush-hour commuter not wanting to make a left turn across traffic, to ground the reasoning.
Connects the decision to a broader density strategy of maximizing habitual, convenience-driven purchases.

Dismissing the question as illogical without engaging with the real strategic reasoning.
Ignoring the deliberate trade-off between cannibalization and market share defense.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.